PERIOD REPORT
DATE: May 22, 2018 Report No. ADM-18-018
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Anja Nurvo, Director of Corporate Services
SUBJECT:TITLE Corporate Services - 2018 First Period Report
Body
The following is a report on the activities pertaining to the Corporate Services Department from January 1, 2018 to April 30, 2018.
I. DIVISION ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Corporate Services
• Staff completed the following:
o 33 meetings: preparation of notices, newspaper notifications, agendas, and minutes for Regular, Special and In Camera meetings of Council and Committee of the Whole, including posting on website, preparation of late items, action reports and completion of all required follow up
o 12 proclamations prepared and posted, including on website
• Corporate Officer and Deputy Corporate Officer completed 9 electronic registrations at Land Title Office, and commissioned 18 documents for members of the public
• Corporate Officer responded to 13 requests for access to records under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act; two appeals to Office of the Information Privacy Commissioner were successfully completed and were subsequently elevated to formal inquiry by the applicant; Township prepared written submission and responded to applicant’s submission; currently awaiting a decision from the assigned investigator
• Administrative Assistant/Deputy Corporate Officer continued with courses towards a Diploma in Public Administration, completing her last 3 required courses; and is in the process of obtaining her Certified Municipal Clerk designation through the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, which is associated with LGMA of BC
• Staff attended training by Local Government Management Association of BC (LGMA) on Corporate Officer Bootcamp, Elections Workshop, Administrative Professionals Workshop, and participated in FOI and Archives webinars
• Staff completed EOC Essentials and Applied Training as well as EOC Information Officer training as backup
• Director held training sessions for staff on Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy; a total of 20 staff attended, from all departments
• All Corporate Services staff attended training session with consultant on implementation of pilot electronic records structure for Departmental records; staff have been transferring existing files and preparing new files into the new electronic structure
• Staff coordinated 4 Mayor’s Open Door meetings, registration and all arrangements for travel and accommodation for 2018 Conferences for Council
• Staff coordinated and organized annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner, Base/Township Luncheon, 2 Police Board meetings, and Council’s participation in several community events and parades
• Executive Assistant participated in ongoing training for providing assistance to and acting as backup for Communications Specialist
• Chief Election Officer and Deputy have commenced arrangements for the 2018 local government election, including preparing required revisions to the Cost Sharing Agreement with the School Board as well as to the Elections and Council Procedure Bylaws
• Director, as Secretary to the Vancouver Island Chapter of LGMA of BC, participated in the organization of the annual Conference and attended the Conference held this year in Parksville.
2. Communications
• Ongoing support and promotion of community events through Township communications channels, including website, newsletter and social media, including: Tsunami Preparedness Information Session, Chamber of Commerce Social Media Seminar, Heritage Week: Pup-up Archives, McLoughlin Amenity Funds Ideas Fair, CRD Community Information Meeting: Macaulay Point construction, HMCS Esquimalt Commemorative Ceremony, Watch Commander’s Open House, Esquimalt’s Earth Day Celebration
• Coordinated editorial in the March 2018 “Experience Esquimalt” a quarterly feature page in the Victoria Times Colonist, showcasing the 5K event as well as other community events, and including a “So Easy to Explore” banner ad
• Layout, design and revisions of Official Community Plan document
• Worked with Mayor on a variety of writing assignments, including monthly Victoria News columns, annual address, speeches and presentations
• Continued with program of news releases and media advisories, posting 33 news items to the website and issuing five releases using the regional news media contact list
• Website home page refreshing of content and working with various departments on revising and adding web content
• Daily media monitoring using Google alerts, media websites, and social media, forwarding information to senior staff when appropriate; 72 news items were posted to the internal staff website (The Bridge) during the period
• Liaise with advertising representatives from print, broadcast and online media on advertising opportunities
• Started preparation of the 2017 Annual Report including obtaining content from all Departments
• Coordinated, wrote and designed the Township’s 2018 economic development advertising for Invest in BC magazine, the Times Colonist’s “Progress” magazine and Coho magazine
• Editing, writing and design of May 2018 “Current” newsletter. Stories included:
o McLoughlin Amenity Funds update
o OCP Update
o McLoughlin Point construction update
o New signage at Highrock Park
o New walking tours brochure
o Community Calendar
Communications Analytics:
• Website Google Analytics
o 258,330 page views (212,081 page views last period)
o Top three page views: 1) Parks and Recreation, 2) Parks and Recreation drop-in schedules, 3) Home Page
• Daily monitoring of social media sites and posting of information (last period in brackets)
o 132 (64) tweets and retweets posted to Twitter
o 311 (114) new Twitter followers added during the period
o 123 (96) timeline posts to Facebook (period 1 2018)
o 139 (51) new Facebook likes during the period
Note: Compared to other municipalities in the CRD (not including City of Victoria), the Township of Esquimalt is ranked #1 in Twitter followers and #3 in Facebook likes.
• Legistar Analytics (last period in brackets)
o 1160 (521) total page views (all pages in the Granicus system)
o 550 (288) total visits (total number of times visitors came to the site)
o 476 (288) total unique visitors - individual views of the site
o 73% (74%) desktop, 27% (26%) mobile
3. Archives
• There were 56 logged in requests for information, 4 image permission to use requests and 40 walk-in requests for service. There were a number of simple requests, received by phone or email, and answered immediately with no requirement for further research to be done.
• Undertook a Pop-Up Archives in the Municipal Council Chambers during Heritage Week, February 21st.
• Displays in Municipal Hall lobby cabinets were changed twice during this period to reflect municipal events - during Heritage Week for Indigenous History theme, and during Buccaneer Week and May Day.
• New major acquisitions included: records of the Esquimalt Garden Club,
collection of material from the Yarrows Drawing office from BC Museum & Archives, Colonist Newspaper positive sheets - 1941, large collection of material from June Halbert family covering her years as Councillor 1990-1993, and Esquimalt Chamber of Commerce records.
• Assistance was given to a number of realtors calling about the age and history of houses they were selling in Esquimalt.
• The Demolition Permit process continues to work well and all properties to be demolished have been photographed, including: Grafton, Wychbury, Head/Esquimalt Road, and Old Esquimalt Road.
• Staff and volunteers assisted with many research requests, including:
o Major research done for staff on property at corner of Esquimalt Road and Park Place
o Merridy Mathews Lloyd researching her grandfather George Franks Mathews, a member of the 1st municipal Council
o Brian Matheson from Revelstoke and his daughter Vicki researching their grandfather Percival Walter Tribe, a member of the 9th and 10th municipal Council, with family photos being donated
o Diane Cowden researching her grandparents William & Elizabeth Fisher, Esquimalt District pioneers for a book she is writing
o Terry Gustafson researching 436 Grafton Street, a log house his grandfather Otto Gustafson helped build [1950s]
o Assisted Lee Sheldon, of London, England, doing more research on William Parsons, Esquimalt District, for reprint of her book about Parsons
o Stuart Stark was provided with photos and fire map images, for a possible reprint of his latest book, Lost Victoria, the BC Agricultural Exhibition Buildings at The Willows
o Providing information to Base Public Affairs about God’s Acre [Veterans’ Cemetery]
• Our team of 5 volunteers contributed over 700 hours working on the image collection, distribution of 400 new format walking tour brochures, accessioning library books, obit carding, clean up of vertical files, and producing finding aids for several collections.
4. Human Resources
Recruitment (Regular Positions)
There were 4 regular positions posted and filled, and 3 in progress at the end of April:
Completed:
• Public Works Technical Support (Public Works)
• Planner 2 - Policy (Development Services)
• Planner 1 (one-year backfill) (Development Services)
• Building Maintenance Worker (Parks and Recreation)
In Progress:
• Planning Technician (Development Services)
• Office Administrator (Engineering & Public Works)
• Records Coordinator and Archivist (Corporate Services)
Labour Relations
Collective Bargaining:
CUPE Local 374’s Collective Agreement expired on December 31, 2016. To date, while the parties continue to meet to collectively bargain, an agreement has not yet been reached. In March the two parties met to discuss proposals specific to the Township, and an agreement was reached on those specific proposals.
The Collective Agreement between IAFF Local 4264 and The Township also expired at the end of December, 2016; however no notices to bargain have been exchanged.
Grievances
There is one outstanding grievance with the IAFF that has not been settled at the first step. IAFF has grieved the process for scheduling annual vacation.
Staff Training
The HR staff met with a facilitator at the Ministry of Labour to develop and present information to 26 staff members, including directors, managers, supervisors, payroll and HR staff, on best practices to ensure injured employees return to work on a timely basis to reduce sick leave and WorkSafe premium costs.
Organizational Development & Job Evaluation
• Revised the job description of the part time Archivist position to include some responsibilities regarding records management. The new job was evaluated under the current job evaluation plan, and it was determined that the position remain in its current pay band.
• Reviewed and evaluated the Planning Technician position as the role has expanded, which resulted in a one-pay grade increase to the position, and a name change to Planner 1.
Exempt Salary Review
The HR Director conducted an exempt salary review by collecting and comparing data of 23 municipalities and local governments in the region, up island and on the lower mainland.
General
The CAO and her team of Directors met off-site on January 12, 2018 for a facilitated session regarding improving the effective team, led by Stacy Holloway of the Holloway Group.
II. COMMITTEES
• Staff acted as Recording Secretary and prepared notice, agenda, and minutes of one Environmental Advisory Committee meeting and one Labour Management meeting during this period.
• Staff coordinated Council’s annual recruitment process for all vacancies on advisory committees, commissions and board, including advertising, arranging interviews, preparing updated appointment list, and updating website.